Michael Kinsley has a funny column (albeit a bit snide) in today’s Washington Post; to appreciate the humor, it probably helps to be a political-columns junkie:
[BEGIN QUOTE] Nicholas Kristof writes a man’s column. As he describes his life twice a week in the New York Times, Kristof (who just won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for commentary) actually lives the fantasy that seduced us all into the column racket in the first place. Partying all night while accepting large bribes from businessmen who don’t want to be mentioned in print and movie stars who do? No, no. That fantasy comes later. I mean: stripping down to your loincloth and swinging through the trees to some distant place of misery that those other lazy bastards are too fat and old and weak to get to, and rescuing victims of oppression with your superpower of worldwide publicity. No joke, he does good. But also: Cool! Not that Kristof ignores women’s issues, either. He opposes rape, for example.
So naturally I was intrigued by a promotion the Times has been running: “Win a Trip With Nick Kristof.” Gosh. Me? On a trip with Nick Kristof? Wowie. Nick himself writes: “I’m looking for a masochist. If your dream trip doesn’t involve a five-star hotel in Rome or Bora-Bora, but a bedbug-infested mattress in a malarial jungle as hungry jackals yelp outside — then read on.” He adds, “Don’t expect comfort so much as diarrhea.” How on earth did Kristof know about my bedbugs-and-jackals-and-diarrhea fantasy? Bob Woodward promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone else. [END QUOTE]
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